1963 Gerry & The Pacemakers: You'll Never Walk Alone

Hitting number one with your first three singles is no mean feat - The Beatles didn't manage it and it wouldn't happen again until Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 1984 trio - so kudos to Gerry and his Pacemakers for pulling it off, but I've always harboured doubts whether the head that wore this particular crown was a worthy one. 'How Do You Do It' and 'I Like It' were amiably enough jollies that typified their era, but 'You'll Never Walk Alone' shifts sideways from Lime Street to Broadway with questionable results.

A Rogers and Hammerstein showtune from 'Carousel', 'You'll Never Walk Alone' is secular in lyric though its inherent message of self belief invites religious connotations and application in any context where hope and faith are lacking. Of course, its come to have particular relevance in the band's Liverpool hometown in that its become an unofficial anthem for Liverpool football club and part of my main beef with this is precisely because Marsden sings it with all the charm and eloquence of a thug on the terraces. Not that 'You'll Never Walk Alone' needs some celestial choir and backing to get its point across, but Marsden rides the goodwill train without a ticket, relying on the tune and lyric to carry it - Gerry does jovial well enough, but this crack at sincerity screams 'amateur hour' while behind him those Pacemakers creak like a rusty hinge in a stiff breeze. A brave stab at something different perhaps, but it's not the version I'd ever reach for first.